September 11, 2016, marks the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed a total of 2,977 people in New York City, Washington, DC, and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Additionally, approximately 14,000 businesses were affected by the 9/11 attacks, some of which went out of business entirely or reopened only to face the uphill battle of rebuilding. However, many not only rebuilt, but went on to prosper, due in no small part to contingency plans and preparedness.

September 2016 is also National Preparedness Month, which serves as a reminder that individuals and businesses should take action to prepare, now and throughout the year, for the types of emergencies that could affect us where we live and work. A business should not only be prepared to weather an earthquake, flood, fire or hurricane, but a terrorist attack such as the one that devastated the United States on September 11, 2001. The following three factors are essential for any business’ continuity plan in case of disaster, whether it be natural or caused by man.

No. 1: Offline data. Contrary to popular belief, the cloud is capable of failing. This means, in case of disaster, any business should have its critical data backed up offline. Fortunately, disaster protected storage does exist, such as that from ioSafe, which provides data storage solutions. The company’s disaster protected storage appliances can, for example, withstand fire for up to 30 minutes and total immersion in water for days.

No. 2: Emergency/alternate work site. If a disaster renders your office or workspace non-functional, or perhaps gone altogether, it is imperative that you have an alternate work site in place. This can include your home, or that of your employees, so business can go on as usual. Before any disaster strikes, it is critical to ensure there is an effective telecommute system in place in case of emergency.

No. 3: Business-continuity team. It is crucial that a business appoint a person or persons on the operations and IT sides to monitor and coordinate recovery efforts in case of disaster. Your business’ IT recovery strategy should already be in place, and if not, it should be developed and implemented immediately. A business’ technology needs to be restorable ASAP in times of disaster to keep the business afloat.

Blog by Dale Myers. the NALA's Head Writer.